After being signed by F.C. Dallas in late July of 2010, US U-20 international Moises Hernandez was hoping that he'd soon be able to help his home club compete for a league title.

Following a June 20th loan deal to C.S.D. Comunicaciones of Guatemala's Liga Nacional, he'll be able to do exactly that - just not for the home he'd initially expected.

Hernandez, whose father was born in Guatemala, still has a number of relatives living in the Central American country, including his grandmother. Because of his family ties and Guatemalan background, he expressed to Yanks Abroad that he already felt a high comfort level at the club.

The same could not have been said for the Dallas native as recently as a few weeks ago, as tough competition at his preferred left back had seen him squeezed out of the mix and relegated solely to the reserve squad.

Playing in nine of ten reserve league games for F.C. Dallas in 2010 where he logged the second-highest number of minutes on the team, Hernandez was back on the reserves again for 2012, playing every minute of the first six games of the season.

With little hope of breaking into the senior team (even with a slight reshuffling of the backline following Jair Benitez's April suspension), the F.C. Dallas front office and a frustrated Hernandez agreed that a loan for the 20 year-old was needed.

"I knew about it [around] a month before [the deal], and I was like, ‘Yeah, I'm cool with it,'" Hernandez said. "I wanted to go out on loan. I wanted to play more. I wasn't getting much playing time in Dallas, and here I could show something."

And as far as Liga Nacional sides go, it doesn't get much better than Comunicaciones: the Guatemala City club has won 24 league titles in its history, second only to rivals Municipal. Despite a first-place regular season standing during the most recent Clausura campaign, however, Comunicaciones crashed out 2-1 on aggregate in the semis.

After that disappointing finish, the team has since reloaded, bringing in Hernandez as well as a number of Guatemalan national team players, notably midfielder Carlos Figueroa. In fact, of the 23 players named to Guatemala's roster for its most recent World Cup qualifiers, an impressive seven are from Comunicaciones.

With that level of quality, Hernandez is sure to have his work cut out for him, but he appears to be more than up for the challenge.

"I don't know if I'll be able to start," he said, "but I'm going to do my best [to win] that starting spot from the first game of the season."

Regardless of how long it may take him to win that position in the first XI, it was obvious that Hernandez had become a rejuvenated player following the loan opportunity.

The defender gushed about the vibrant atmosphere during a recent scrimmage in which he participated, and his excitement for the road ahead was palpable.

"It's a great level over here in Guatemala, like the way they move the ball. Over there in the United States, it's just more physical, and over here it's more technical," Hernandez explained. "They like to move the ball around more."

That increased emphasis on technical ability should prove to be a boost to his stock if and when he returns to Frisco. Hernandez said that he did not know whether it was possible for the loan deal to ultimately be made permanent; as currently constructed, the loan runs strictly through the end of 2012, encompassing the entire July-December Apertura season.

If he does indeed return to F.C. Dallas at that time, though, one thing is clear - Moises Hernandez will be neither the same player nor the same person as the one that left.